Vanquish issued default after repayment plan agreed

Skylined

Back in 2017 I was in a bit of trouble and I didn't pay my Vanquish credit card bill for a few months. That was when Moorcroft debt collection approached me on behalf of Vanquish with a long term settlement offer including freezing the debt. I haven't missed a payment since and half the debt is already been repaid but I realised that as soon as the agreement was in place Vanquish slapped me with a default. They had sent me a default notice beforehand, but I believed my agreement to repay the full amount (most of it interest and charges) would have stopped that from happening. Moorcroft told me they were making the agreement on behalf of Vanquish, who is to this day the owner of the account and the debt, but they failed to inform me that once the agreement was in place I would be rewarded with a default. What would be the proper way of approaching this situation and could I request a removal of the default on the basis of me been misled or not given all the information relevant to the situation?

[Deleted User]

You could try appealing to their goodwill, but Vanquis have acted appropriately.

They advised you of the default and a repayment plan doesn't change the fact you defaulted.

Skylined

Deleted_User wrote: »

You could try appealing to their goodwill, but Vanquis have acted appropriately.

They advised you of the default and a repayment plan doesn't change the fact you defaulted.

I don't disagree they acted within their rights but I wish someone had told me "if you accept this agreement a default will be registered in your account". That would have given me the opportunity to seek an alternative agreement to prevent that default.

Anyway, I am definitely interested in appealing to their goodwill. How do I go about it? Should I offer to repay the remaining debt in one go if they are kind enough to remove the default?

BoGoF

You say they sent you a default 'beforehand'....so was this before the agreement was made? If so, I am not sure what your complaint is as you had defaulted.

Even if the default had not been applied then you would likely have got an 'arrangement to pay' marker.....which is just as damaging credit file wise.

Skylined

BoGoF wrote: »

You say they sent you a default 'beforehand'....so was this before the agreement was made? If so, I am not sure what your complaint is as you had defaulted.

"default notice", the default came after the agreement

BoGoF

What does your credit file actually show in respect of this account?

fatbelly

The entry gets removed 6 years after it is defaulted or settled, whichever happens sooner.

It sounds like the default marker was correctly applied and in a timely manner, in 2017. It will drop off in 2023.

The other option they had was to mark it arrangement to pay, but this is still viewed as a negative mark. The entry would then stay until 6 years after it was paid off, and it sounds like you are still doing that.

I'd leave it as it is.

Skylined

BoGoF wrote: »

What does your credit file actually show in respect of this account?

Defaulted.

fatbelly wrote: »

The entry gets removed 6 years after it is defaulted or settled, whichever happens sooner.

It sounds like the default marker was correctly applied and in a timely manner, in 2017. It will drop off in 2023.

The other option they had was to mark it arrangement to pay, but this is still viewed as a negative mark. The entry would then stay until 6 years after it was paid off, and it sounds like you are still doing that.

I'd leave it as it is.

Is it better 4.5 years with a default on my file, or 6 years with "arrangement to pay", provided I clear the remaining balance right now? My issue is that no one told me if I took that agreement my account would default so I was not given the opportunity to negotiate a different kind of agreement, and the default was issued 40 days after my first payment, I had already made two payments by then.

Willing2Learn

You are far better off in the long-term, having a default instead of AP markers. Both a default and AP markers are very toxic indicators. Having the default automatically removed from your file after six years is the far better option, as the toxic indicator is removed so much earlier.

BoGoF

Out of interest what other type of arrangement do you think you could have negotiated?......bearing in mind a year and a half later you are still paying the debt off.

Skylined

BoGoF wrote: »

Out of interest what other type of arrangement do you think you could have negotiated?......bearing in mind a year and a half later you are still paying the debt off.

I could have paid off a lot faster